Eternally Bound
by BlueDragonGirl1
Summary: Miyu is killed and the strays become rampant but before she can be resurrected Yui meets the same fate. Without a guardian Ranka becomes the reluctant substitute and has to find Larva who's the only survivor with Miyu's blood but it'll require a sacrifice
1. The Death of a Guardian

**Chapter One: The Death of a Guardian**

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Princess Miyu.

Senseless Advertisement: Go read my other VPM fanfictions "Miyu: The Vampire Hunter", "Return To Me" and "New Vampire Miyu: To Change The Future".

(-)

The night was peaceful for everything slept except for a gentle breeze that caressed the tall grasses lovingly. The moon rose up to take its seat at the highest point in the sky, and the clouds moved aside in grave reverence.

All was quiet.

Suddenly, the peacefulness was interrupted when a figure, cloaked in shadows, burst through the foliage that surrounded the field and sprinted amongst the grasses towards an amorphous structure in the distance shrouded in fog. The structure began to take shape as the figure came closer and soon resembled a dark red torii, the barrier to the second tier.

The figure looked up at the torii, his white mask glinting in the moonlight for a moment, then he bowed his head as he tried to will himself to move faster for the enemy was close at hand.

Just before he reached the shimmering veil under the torii, which separated the second tier from the first, three black shadows burst forth from the foliage on the other side of the field and rushed towards the structure. The masked figure did not hesitate and transcended through the barrier and continued his flight through the Japanese Shinma Realm. The three figures, one cloaked entirely in green, one in navy blue and another in black, continued to close the distance between themselves and their quarry. Their limbs tirelessly floated across the ground, and they gained more energy from the pure adrenaline rush of the hunt and the lust of wanting to spill more blood onto their hands.

The green figure ran along side the trees until it gained enough speed to run up along their trunks and then silently among their leaves. The black figure's legs slowly sank into the ground as it ran until it had disappeared entirely from sight leaving only the blue figure running by itself but not entirely alone.

The trees soon grew thicker and traveling became difficult for the masked figure as he tried to maneuver himself among the thick branches. His wounds, although not physical, tore apart his conscience and ate at his heart. Half of him had died moments ago and the reason for running from the enemy was a blur of the past. Without a second thought, he stopped himself and turned to face the enemy in one final stand.

The first enemy soon appeared with its navy blue cloak swirling around its body. It reached behind it and unsheathed a rusted saber. It jumped up into the air and came down upon its quarry. The masked figure darted to the side and the enemy landed on the ground and swung its saber in the air. Rusted metal met long red nails and sparks flew as they pulled away from each other.

"You can't escape from us, servant," the attacker hissed. "You'll soon meet the same fate as your mistress." It jumped back and disappeared into the surrounding trees and everything became very still.

In a flash of green and blue, two attackers leapt from the trees and dove down for the masked servant. He did not have enough time to defend himself and stared helplessly at his inevitable fate.

Suddenly but almost as if in slow motion, white strings appeared crisscrossing and weaving together a sharp web of defense over the enemy's quarry. The green attacker was the first to test its weapon, long needle like knives that protruded out of its knuckles, against the webbed barrier. When the needles came in contact with the web the strings detached and wrapped themselves around the attacker slicing its body into pieces. The blue attacker landed on the mangled body of its comrade and jumped to the ground to avoid the same fate.

"You are trespassing in my tier stray shinmas!" an authoritative voice said. They turned to see what looked like a Japanese geisha of a modest height and shoulder length black hair appear before them. "I will not allow this to go on."

"Who the hell are you, wench?" the blue attacker dared to ask her.

"Such a question does not deserve a reply," she replied calmly.

The shinma snickered. "You must be the second guardian Ranka, right? How fortunate. You are much lovelier than the first guardian. It will be such a tragic ending for such a beautiful face." The shinma rushed towards her having forgotten about its earlier target.

"How foolish," Ranka mumbled raising her hand in the air. New strings rained down from her fingertips and spun themselves around the shinma's limbs. It swung its saber wildly in the air cutting the strings and dodging new ones that took their place.

"You're the fool!" It bellowed raising its saber above its head. It tried to bring its weapon down upon the guardian but the blade shattered like glass before it could even graze her porcelain skin. The masked servant appeared beside them and attacked it with nails elongated. The shinma dodged the surprise attack and retreated into the trees.

"Larva," Ranka said. "What has brought you here to the second tier? And where is Miyu?"

Larva removed the mask from his face. "Miyu is," he faltered, "deceased, and now the strays have come for you and the other guardians."

"I see," Ranka said solemnly. "Then we must not waste time. These strays cannot be allowed to reach the higher tiers." Larva nodded and replace the mask on his face to hide the sorrow reflecting in his blood red eyes.

Suddenly, the earth began to tremble beneath their feet. At first it was just a light tremor then it grew in magnitude until Larva feel to his knees, unable to stand, and Ranka had to hover above the ground in order to stay vertical. The ground around them began to billow up into small hills then sink down then billow up again but only closer to them.

Ranka held her hands up in the air and small spheres of white energy glowed from her fingertips. She brought them down so her hands were parallel to the ground and strings spread out over the ground and entered where the hills were forming. The black figure burst up from the ground sending a shower of dirt and rocks upon them and tried to dive back into the ground but could not rid itself of the strings. With one swift movement, Ranka pulled back on the strings and the shinma was wrenched forward and dragged across the ground.

Before Ranka could continue Larva leapt forward with his nails lengthened to finish it off. The shinma stood up and tried to raise its arms up but they were bound to his sides. Larva took a clean shot of the immobile target and impaled it through its chest. He then brought his hand back through as the blood began to pour out. Ranka pulled on the strings and the body was obliterated.

"Just one more," Larva sighed.

"You want me?" the voice of the last shinma asked. "Fine. Then you can have me."

Larva whirled around and so did Ranka but she had no time to dodge as the last shinma ran its newly formed saber through her small frame. Larva ran to her side as the shinma pulled away. It did not get very far as Ranka was still alive enough to attach her strings to it, but she did not have the strength to pull it back and the enemy gathered the strings up in its fist and threw her against a tree. Larva rushed to the strings and slashed through them to keep the enemy from throwing her again.

"Heh! Two down and only three more to go," it chuckled, "but of course there's always you, servant."

Larva gathered Ranka in his arms and turned his back as the saber came down against his shoulder, sending blood spitting into the air. Larva pulled away and ran through the forest with the stray shinma hot on his trail. The foliage was thick but he managed to break through it with anguish blinding his mind and putting a damper over his physical pain. If Ranka died, she would be the second guardian to perish at those shinmas' hands. He had failed once but he promised that he would not fail again. If he could just break through to the third tier then perhaps they, he and Ranka, would have a chance. The forest suddenly grew less dense and Larva could see the first signs of the frozen land of the third tier. Just a little further and they would transcend the barrier of Reiha's realm.

Suddenly, the shinma appeared in front of them and Larva stopped and turned away as it brought its weapon once again against his back. It was the only way he could defend Ranka and he pulled away from the blade before the shinma could take another strike. The shinma was about to attack again when a high-pitch howl broke through the air and the shinma was thrown off its feet by a dog-like creature. Larva stepped back, wary of the newcomer but felt at ease when he heard the familiar voice.

"Ranka! What happened?" Ichiro cried. Larva finally had time to check to see if the second guardian was still alive. She was but barely and the blood was pouring out of her mortal wound. "Larva! What are you doing here? Where's Miyu?" Larva could only stare at Ichiro from behind his stone cold mask and Ichiro's ears flattened against his head. "Is she dead?"

Before any questions could be answered, the shinma reappeared and tackled Ichiro to the ground. Ichiro wrestled with his opponent and managed to pin it down to the ground. Larva took the opportunity and ran from the battle. Ichiro would be able to hold it off or perhaps defeat it, but that was only a chance and Ranka did not have much time. He transcended the barrier to the third tier and ran across the snow-covered fields. Reiha's realm was a permanently frozen one where nothing lived or prospered.

A sudden gust of wind caught his attention and he spared a glance over his shoulder to see the shinma running after him. He feared the worst for Ichiro but then saw a shape in the distance trying to catch up with them and the shinma. How the shinma could outrun Ichiro was beyond him and with no time to contemplate he quickened his pace trying to keep the distance between him and the shinma. But the distance quickly closed between them and the shinma caught up to them with Ichiro still lagging behind. The shinma jumped up into the air and came down upon them.

A whirlwind of snow rotated up from the ground and Larva dove to the side into the snow dunes in order to dodge it. The whirlwind subsided and Larva sat up and saw the shinma frozen in the position it had been in ready to attack. He looked over to where the whirlwind had formed and saw a small girl, clad in a white kimono with short black hair pulled up in pigtails, cradling a small doll. Ichiro finally caught up with them and bow his head in reverence to Reiha as he tried to regain his breath.

"I am gravely offended," Reiha said. "A Western Shinma is running around our realm and carrying a guardian in such a way." She looked down at her doll. "Well, what do you think of this Matsukaze?"

"I find it quite disgraceful," the doll replied. "A servant should never overstep his place. Besides, this problem is probably his doing."

"Now, now Matsukaze," Reiha said. "Let's not start pointing fingers. We must attend to Lady Ranka immediately. Ichiro, please see to it that the second tier is attended too in Lady Ranka's absence, as for you, Larva, please follow me." Reiha turned her back to Larva and they proceeding across the icy landscape towards a house in the distance.

When they reached the house, the rice paper doors slid open allowing them to enter. Reiha went first and Larva followed and the doors closed behind him.

"Set her down right here," Reiha instructed pointing to a woven mat on the floor. Larva set Ranka down on the mat carefully and retired to a corner of the room. Reiha looked at him in disgust but resolved that she had better things to do then degrade a Westerner. "That is all, you may go."

Larva was hesitant and Matsukaze took advantage of it. "There's no need for you to be here anymore so why don't you go and return to your Western kin. I'm sure that they'll just _love_ to have you back."

"Now, now Matsukaze," Reiha said casually not really caring what the doll said to Larva.

"A lot of our troubles are caused by this Westerner," Matsukaze continued to Reiha. "If it hadn't been for him then Ranka wouldn't be in such a condition and Miyu would be alive." It paused. "Of course, it's not like she'd be any better at her job." Larva suppressed his urges to lash out at them both but instead silently left the house and made his way back to the first tier.

(-)

Larva watched as the waves crashed against the shore of the Japanese Shinma realm. This was the first tier, Miyu's realm, but within it was a separate realm a place where Miyu use to take shelter from her duty just for a moment. Her Crimson Realm.

Normally, he was able to transcend the barrier to the crimson realm as he pleased but something was wrong. The Crimson Realm was no longer there. It was as if it had completely disappeared.

_"Larva! Please run! We can't beat them. . . . Go now! I don't want to see you die again!"_

Larva walked along the shore with his head down mourning. He wanted to be able to cradle her body no matter how torn and batter it was, just one last time. He turned his frustration on an amorphous rock structure and struck it as hard as he could and as many times as he could before his hands became too numb to strike and he slid down to the ground sobbing.

_"We'll meet again. Someday. Now please, go now!"_

Her words echoed in his head as he relived the moment over and over again in his mind. In his mind, she was still there, and in his mind, she was still dying.

"We _will_ meet again, Miyu," he whispered as he closed his eyes hoping that if and when someone found him he would already have willed himself to die.

Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen.

To Be Continued. . . . .

BlueDragonGirl1: Remember way back when? Say, August 2004 when "Miyu: The Vampire Hunter" made its debut? Well, when I decided it to put up "Miyu: The Vampire Hunter" the second pick had been this story. Unfortunately, I felt that it wasn't fully developed enough and I pushed it aside for later use. Fast forward about a year and a half later. . . . I came across a small sample that I had made of this first chapter and decided that I could develop the storyline as I went along. So I would appreciate any reviews with criticism since I am more or less winging this story just for the sake of my sanity. (This thing was really taking up space in my head) R&R any thoughts you have!


	2. The Substitute

**Chapter Two: The Substitute**

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Princess Miyu.

( - )

Ichiro wasn't sure what to think.

He had been summoned by Matsukaze to come to the third tier immediately but he wouldn't tell him what was going on. When he had arrived, he had found Ranka and Reiha sitting across from each other having tea. Ranka hadn't even acknowledged him when he came in and bowed to both of them. She remained seated, as if there were a board tied to her back, even when Reiha left to retrieve something from outside. He would have tired to speak to her but Matsukaze was an overbearing presence in the room. Minutes seemed to lag on for hours but Reiha promptly returned, dropping some frozen flowers into a vase on the table and pushing it towards Ranka.

"I thought these might cheer you up a bit," she said to Ranka.

"Thank you," Ranka said with utter reverence but to Ichiro, she seemed as lifeless and cold as the frozen wildflowers.

"This whole situation is very bothersome indeed," Reiha went on to say as she took her seat again. "With Miyu getting herself killed again."

Ichiro cast his eyes to the ground but quickly brought them up and appeared serious. Reiha disliked Miyu to the tenth degree and anyone who was partial to her. She couldn't understand why Ranka was willing to take risks to keep Miyu out of Reiha's range of fury. Ichiro's ears went back. Oh no. Knowing Reiha, at any point in this conversation she was going to stick it to Ranka.

"How irresponsible," Reiha continued. "She allowed those shinmas ample time to plot against her. She should have focused more on hunting them then dawdling with her servant." She sipped her tea. "He led them to your tier. How thoughtless. Why did you even bother lending a hand?"

"He didn't know where else to go. Besides, those shinmas had it out for us. They would have transcended the tiers on their own."

"You have always had a soft spot for the misfit guardian and her servant," Reiha accused with bitterness. Ichiro winced. Here it comes. "It makes me think at times that you are showing signs of incompetence."

Ranka didn't respond in her own defense but Ichiro had a lot to say. He wanted to tell Reiha to screw off and was about to jump on the opportunity when Ranka, for the first time since he had arrived, shot him a look that was all but welcoming. He looked down at himself and found his hands were clenched into fists. When he looked up, he saw Reiha glance briefly at him.

"This should be a lesson to you," she looked again at Ichiro. "To you both. Never show leniency to anyone. They'll just take advantage of it, but I'm sure you'll remember that after last night." Ranka pressed her hand against the place where she had been impaled.

"Now then, on to more pressing matters. Miyu's realm is now unguarded and once word gets around that she's dead, the strays are going to have a field day."

"Larva is still alive. He could watch over the realm until . . . . ." Ranka trailed off but it was too late to take back what she had said.

"You aren't suggesting that a Westerner be left in charge of the first tier?" Matsukaze asked.

"Why not?" Ichiro blurted out and instantly received an icy glare from Reiha. "I mean, uh, it'll just be for a couple of days, right?" He looked to Ranka for help. "You'll be able to revive Miyu in that time, right?" He asked her. "I'll track down Yui again and Nagi can help us too and . . . . . . ."

"Oh, shut up!" Matsukaze growled. "Your babbling is giving me a headache!"

"And it's quite rude too," Reiha agreed. "While you're running off searching for Yui in the Shi realm and Ranka is working on reviving Miyu, who will be watching for the stray shinmas?"

"There was no one to watch Miyu's realm when the boat-load of Western Shinmas were here. Maybe it'll be alright on its own," Ichiro pointed out.

"You cannot be serious? Or perhaps you're just stupid," Matsukaze said. "Do you have any idea how many shinmas escaped from the darkness? More shinma will take advantage of it this time."

Ichiro's ears flattened against his head. "Miyu will round them up again."

Reiha scoffed at the idea. "That's wishful thinking." She sipped her tea. "I do not want that realm without a guardian and I will not entrust it to a Westerner." She was staring straight at Ranka.

"What do you suggest?" Ranka asked.

"You will have to fill in as a temporary guardian."

Ichiro broke out without restraint. "Are you nuts?! She was just run through and you want her to take on that job? How can she do that _and_ revive Miyu at the same time? If you want the realm watched over, why don't you go down there and do it yourself?" Ichiro was suddenly doused in lukewarm tea and he backed away clumsily trying to rub it out of his eyes.

"I'll do it," Ranka said quickly before Reiha had a chance to become offended by Ichiro's outburst. Ranka put the empty teacup down and stood up but soon regretted it as she swayed violently to the side. Ichiro was instantly at her side to help her along. "Come Ichiro," she said somewhat harshly and he knew he was going to get it when they were outside. "We must go immediately to fortify the second tier then move to Miyu's realm." She turned back to Reiha and bowed somewhat mechanically. "Thank you for everything, Lady Reiha."

"Be sure to take care of yourself, Lady Ranka." And with that, Reiha turned away from them as Ichiro guided Ranka outside.

Once they were outside, Ranka shuffled a few steps ahead of Ichiro and stared out over the snow. Ichiro swallowed hard. "Um, Ranka," he stammered. "Are you angry with me?"

He heard her sigh. "Should I be, Ichiro?" she asked.

"I guess," he replied. "But she just screwed you over! I mean, I don't doubt you but how can you possibly keep watch over Miyu's realm and resurrect her while still recovering?"

"I don't know, Ichiro," she said gravely. "I just don't know." They stood together now, staring out at the barren ice land. "We need to be on our way," Ranka whispered but as she took her first step, she faltered and Ichiro had to catch her as she went down.

"Well, we better find out a way fast." He helped her up. "But first we need to get home." He debated to himself then picked Ranka up in his arms. She didn't protest so he carried her across the snow at a sprint. Upon transcending the barrier to the second tier, Ranka told him to stop and he put her down. "I will fortify the tier." She brushed snow off her kimono. "You must go and find Yui. Bring her to me at the first tier." Ichiro bowed then ran as fast as he could to the Shi realm.

Only to be met with an unprecedented surprise . . . . . . . .

( - )

Larva woke up, stiff and clammy from sleeping against a rock on the beach where the salt water could spray him every time the waves crashed upon the rocks. The sky was gray and the air blustery. He stood up slowly, brushing the dried salt that had caked onto his cloak. The beach was empty, lifeless. He shivered. Being alone was worse than being cold, especially when one's clothes smelled of blood from two different bodies. Ranka had lived, but that didn't ease his pain. He walked along the shore again. The realm would never see Miyu again, those three shinmas made sure of that. He kicked a blenched white piece of driftwood out of his way.

"Awe, don't appear so down, Larva," a voice chimed above him.

Larva looked up and perceived a woman dressed in royal purple that made her black hair shine with a purple hue. Her skin was the color of a fresh pear cut open and looked as smooth as pearls. She was beautiful but she had snake-like eyes that were sharp and keen. And deadly.

Larva quickly looked away from her and walked on. He didn't know who she was. There was no way he could forget eyes like those if he had known her. The woman leapt down from her perch on the cliff and landed in front of him.

"Where are you going, Larva?" Her voiced contained a heavy French accent. She was a Westerner. "Don't you want to talk with me?"

"Who are you?" was all he could ask.

The woman laughed and it echoed over the beach like tinkling glass. "I guess you would want to know that since I know your name. I am Sersee. Nice to meet you." She extended her hand to him but Larva didn't take it.

"I'm afraid you must return to your homeland," he said gravely. "Otherwise, I will have to drive you from here by force."

"Oh, poor Larva," Sersee mewed. "You were so bound to Miyu that now that she's gone, you're still so faithful that you'll guard her realm in her absence."

Larva frowned. "How do you know this?"

She laughed again. "Silly Larva. I know everything about you."

Larva took a step back. "What is your reason for coming here?"

Sersee stopped laughing and her snake eyes narrowed. "Why, I'm here for you."

To Be Continued. . . . . . .

**BlueDragonGirl1**: Please R&R!!!


	3. Bad News

**Chapter 3: Bad News**

Disclaimer: (You know the drill) I do not own Vampire Miyu.

(-)

They were so incredibly screwed.

"This can't be happening," Ichiro breathed. "Nagi, what happened?"

Nagi, Yui's servant, sat under a dying cherry blossom tree absentmindedly drawing kanji in the wet dirt with a broken stick. "I honestly don't know," he stuttered. He kept his head down and hadn't raised it since Ichiro had arrived. "It just happened. There was no time to stop them."

"Who?" Ichiro asked.

"I don't know, but there were three of them," Nagi scratched out an incorrectly drawn kanji. "They had come from Miyu's realm. Yui had," he trailed off, took a deep breath, then began again. "Yui had known that they were coming, that something was coming. She thought, we thought, it was Miyu. We could smell her blood." With his fingers, he dug into the dirt and scratched out all the kanji he had drawn and turned the dirt over to begin drawing again.

"Nagi!" Ichiro grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Come on! Snap out of it. We've got to think of something and fast." Nagi still didn't look up. Ichiro swallowed hard. "Where's Yui's body?"

At first he thought that Nagi wouldn't respond but then he held up his hand and pointed in the direction of the lake, Yui's lake, the blood red lake whose shore they currently stood upon. Ichiro looked out across the lake and squinted to better see. He could barely make out a shape. . . . With dire urgency, he ran up the cherry blossom tree, sending down a rain of browning cherry blossoms on Nagi. He paused to get a better footing then climbed out onto the thickest branch that overlooked the lake. And to his unfortunates, he was able to see better. A whole lot better. It made him sick and he wanted to close his eyes against what he saw but out of respect he kept them open.

Yui floated in the center of the lake, face down, with her dark hair fanned out around her head.

Once Ichiro had enough, he slowly slid down the tree's trunk and sat next to Nagi who continued to draw kanji in the dirt. "Nagi, you need to listen and you need to listen good," Ichiro murmured.

Nagi continued to keep his head down.

"Are you listening to me, Nagi?!" Ichiro tore the stick from his hand and threw it out into the lake. He breathed loudly, then began again. "We need to go get her."

"We can't do that."

"What do you mean 'we can't do that'? We have too! Ranka needs her blood to resurrect Miyu."

"Oh yeah! Well what will Yui get out of that, huh!" Nagi snapped and now he was looking Ichiro full in the face. "The last time Miyu died, Yui got the crap beaten out of her trying to get to Miyu. And what did she get out of it then?"

Ichiro was shocked. He hadn't realized that Nagi had been spiteful of the entire situation. "We were all grateful for what Yui sacrificed to get to Miyu in time. Miyu was the most grateful of all. And we need her again and this time Miyu will be able to return the favor, I'm sure. Ranka will use Yui's blood to resurrect Miyu and then once Miyu is resurrected Ranka will use her blood to resurrect Yui. Everyone will be happy."

Nagi grunted. "Whatever blood is left."

"What?"

"I said 'whatever blood is left'!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, there might not be any blood left in her body to resurrect Miyu!"

The blood left Ichiro's face. "You can't be serious?"

"Oh really, Ichiro? You don't think I know any better?" Nagi snapped. "Why would a bunch of Japanese Shinmas want to go after a Shi? Huh? Do you know why? Because they knew that if they killed Miyu, you guys would just waltz right down here and borrow some of Yui's blood to resurrect her." Ichiro was silent. "Do you get it now? They had it all planned! They would kill Miyu and use her blood as a disguise to get close enough to Yui. We didn't realize they were coming until it was too late!"

"Don't be so pessimistic, Nagi." They looked up and a boy dressed in a traditional Japanese school uniform appeared in their presence.

"Nice of you to show up, Senjui," Nagi mumbled. "Would have been better if you could have been here a little bit earlier!"

"I'm sorry but there may be some blood left for you to use, Ichiro. And you can get it without wading into the lake."

"Which would be beyond stupidity," Nagi grumbled then turned his head downward.

"How can I get it?" Ichiro asked.

Senjui produced a small, glass bottle from the inside pocket of his jacket. He knelt down on the edge of the lake and filled the bottle with the blood, red water. He corked the bottle and held it up for Ichiro to see. "It'll be diluted but it's still there." He placed it in Ichiro's open hand. "Be careful with this, Ichiro. It's the last we have of our precious Yui."

"I'll take care of it," Ichiro vowed. "And I'll be back! With Yui after Miyu is resurrected. I promise!"

"Then go, Ichiro, run!" Senjui encouraged. "And good luck!"

Ichiro took one last look at Nagi then ran off with the bottle clutched securely in his hand to the first tier where Ranka would be waiting for him.

(-)

"You're wasting your time," Larva told Sersee. "Return to your country."

Sersee shook her head and laughed. "Not when I've come all this way for you." She narrowed her eyes at him but her lips were pulled back in a smile. "I've been waiting a long time for this, Larva."

"What do you want from me?"

"I've already told you. I want you."

"Who sent you here?"

Sersee crossed her arms in front of her. "Sent me here? I came here all by myself." Larva didn't say anything. "Oh, I see. You think I was sent here by some of your kin. Well, I wasn't. I'm more of an independent lady." Larva still didn't say anything. She strolled up to him, rocking herself back and forth, allowing the motion to settle in her hips. "Don't be sad, Larva. It won't be that difficult of an adjustment. If you just give me a chance, you may find that I am just like her." She reached up to stroke his face but he stepped back. She stepped forward with more force and practically leapt at him with her arms open. They wrapped around his shoulders and she was instantly transfigured into Miyu, detail for detail. Larva pushed her away, digging his talons into her skin to make sure it hurt and she fell to the ground, still as Miyu.

"Larva, what are you doing?" Sersee asked but her French accent had disappeared and she spoke in perfect Japanese in Miyu's voice. "You were supposed to protect me."

Larva froze. This wasn't Miyu. He knew it wasn't Miyu. But every detail was like Miyu: her hair, her face, her petite body, even her scent. Sersee was playing with his mind. And she was way too convincing.

"You hurt me, Larva," Miyu mewed. Blood was dripping down her arms from the marks he had made and she held out her hand to him, allowing the blood to drip from her fingertips. "Don't you want to be with me anymore; for all eternity?"

"You're not Miyu," Larva whispered but his defenses were breaking down.

"I'm am."

"You're not."

"I'm just like her." Sersee appeared behind the image of Miyu and stood with her hand on her shoulder. "You can't go on like this. Miyu's dead, and her blood in you will slowly make you die. I came here to protect you." She looked down at Miyu. "I want to protect you." She disappeared again leaving him with Miyu who looked more real than ever.

"Take my hand," Miyu said reaching out for him without moving and her hand seem to extend to him across the distance they stood apart. Or was he physically moving towards her? He could feel his hand reach out for hers but was he really moving at all? He couldn't tell until he saw his hand grasp Miyu's smaller hand.

So cold. It was so cold.

He knelt down in front of her to be closer to her. The blood that dripped across her fingers pooled in the palm of his hand and it too was cold. He leaned forward and at that moment, time stopped.

And he lapped up the blood that spilled from her fingers.

To Be Continued. . . . . . . .


	4. Desperate Measures

**Chapter Four: Desperate Measures**

Disclaimer: I do not own Vampire Princess Miyu or a useless pile of cash to buy the rights with.

(-)

Ranka stood under the red torii that connected the human realm to Miyu's first tier. Since the Crimson Realm was inaccessible, she and Ichiro would have to reside in the human realm until she could resurrect Miyu while she kept a close eye on the Shinma realm. Meanwhile, Ichiro's job would be to locate any shinmas causing trouble amongst the humans. There was no need to cause a big commotion and announce to all the shinmas in the area that the second guardian was now in charge. That would surely make for a large disturbance. She would only go after those that were causing a negative impact on the humans. All residing shinmas would be overlooked unless they became likely to assault.

She folded her hands into the sleeves of her kimono to keep them from blowing in the sudden breeze that swept across the land. Reiha would not approve of her plan. She would want her to go after every stray shinma, active or not. But that would not leave her any time to focus on resurrecting Miyu and returning strays to the dark was not her job. Also, the barriers she had placed around her tier were temporary and not the strongest they could have been had she been uninjured. She would have to reinforce them later. She sighed wearily. All of this was going to take time; time of which they did not have much of.

The next breeze that swept through brought a panting Ichiro with it. He stopped before Ranka, made a swift bow, and handed her the small vial Senjui had filled with the lake water that contained Yui's blood. Ranka took it in her hands and lightly touched the curves of the bottle. She frowned and after Ichiro had caught his breath asked. "Why is the blood so pale?"

"It's from the lake," Ichiro replied. The frown lines on Ranka's face deepened. Ichiro gasped. Of course, she didn't know. "Ranka, Yui's dead. They got her too, the same one's that got Miyu. That's all that's left of Yui's blood."

"Ichiro," Ranka said softly. "This will not be enough."

"Wha?! What do you mean it's not enough," Ichiro cried out. "Last time there was barely any of Miyu's blood left but you said you would still be able to resurrect her. And you would have been able to do it without Yui, it just would have taken too much time. Why can't you do it now?"

"It's so diluted," Ranka murmured. "Once I separated the lake water from the blood there may not be enough concentrated blood to do anything."

"Ah, shit," Ichiro muttered. Ranka did not chastise him for his crude language perhaps because she was thinking along the same line. "Isn't there anything that can be done?"

"I may be able to resurrect Yui, but that's strictly a maybe. It would take a long time though."

"Come on, Ranka! Think of something. There has to be another way. Let's go down all of our options!" Ichiro said hurriedly. "Maybe there's something we haven't thought about."

"Miyu has no other relatives. Her mother and father are long gone. Her victims are in the Crimson Realm and we've been sealed out of it. There's no one left except," she trailed off and looked at Ichiro who was staring at her wide-eyed.

"That's it!" he said trying not to become too excited for he knew Ranka would caution him against getting his hopes up.

"It's too risky, Ichiro," Ranka warned. "Her victims are much better candidates because none of their blood exists, only the little bit that Miyu gave them to give them the dream. Yui is a relative. Her blood is identical to Miyu's. This," she shook her head. "Miyu would kill me if anything went wrong."

"But it's the only thing we've got!" Ichiro said. "And we have to resurrect Miyu. We'll have to take our chances!"

"But Larva is everything to Miyu," Ranka pointed out to him. "If he died to resurrect her, it would be a wasted cause. Miyu would just end up dying again. I could never put her through that again."

Ichiro's ears flattened against the side of his head. "How's come it's so risky? How much blood _exactly_ do you need?"

"It'll amount up to almost every concentrated drop of Miyu's blood in his body. I can't have any of his in the mix."

"So, when Miyu comes back, she'll be separated from Larva?"

"For awhile yes, and he will be separated from her. But draining Miyu's blood will be difficult."

"But the Westerners did it before. Remember?" Ichiro pointed out. "You can just copy what they did?"

Ranka gave him a look that politely told him to shut up. "I remember them killing Larva before they did anything. Plus, Ichiro, I am _not_ a Western Shinma. Something like the Dark Exorcism is even out of my league." Ichiro swallowed hard. Ranka was nicely telling him that she was insulted. And this wasn't the time to be insulting her.

"Well," he started off slowly. "What will we have to do to keep Larva alive while you extract the blood?"

Ranka closed her eyes. This was in no way helping her already weakened condition. "If he agrees to this, which I'm sure he will, we'll have to somehow put his separated blood back into his body. He'll be half drained by the time we're finished but his chance of survival will be better."

"Jeez, Ranka. Won't that be kinda hard?" Ichiro asked scratching the back of his head. Even he was having a hard time comprehending this.

"I don't even want to think about it right now," Ranka confessed. "If we want this done now then we should technically request the assistance of Reiha." Ichiro gawked at the idea. "But I doubt she would ever do it," she said quickly.

"Then we'll just have to wait until you get better," Ichiro affirmed. "Until then what should I do?"

"You need to go and find Larva."

"That might not be so easy but I'll try."

Ranka nodded. "Reiha sent him away. The Crimson Realm might even be sealed to him. I have not sensed him since we returned to the lower tiers."

"Um, so, Ranka, where exactly do I start?" Ichiro asked.

A moment of silence fell upon them then Ranka spoke. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Ichiro almost fell over. "That doesn't help at all! Come on Ranka!"

"Ichiro, where is the most logical place for him to go in the event of Miyu's death?"

"I don't know. The place where Miyu died to mourn? You said so yourself that you didn't sense him. Unless. . . . . ." Ichiro physically fell over this time. "Oh shit, Ranka! He couldn't have left for Europe. I mean, seriously, that quickly? It would take me forever to find him there and my English sucks!"

"Don't jump to conclusions, Ichiro," Ranka scolded and he jumped back up onto his feet. "I doubt Larva would do such a thing."

"Then what does that leave us with?"

She sighed heavily, her exhaustion slowly turning to irritation. "There are only two people who would know of his whereabouts, if they have been paying attention to what's been transpiring. He may even have gone to them."

Ichiro shook his head violently. "No way, Ranka! Not them. Anyone but _them_!"

Ranka frowned. "It's the only lead we may have and they'll be a lot easier to track down."

"But they're freakin' nuts!" Ichiro's voice was shrill. "Somebody's gotta get them on some Prozac or something. Nuh-uh! I am not tracking _them_ down. That's only asking for trouble."

"Ichiro," Ranka said warningly. "Unless you have a better idea?"

"Which I don't, but I'll eventually come up with one."

"Good, then perhaps you'll come up with one while you're tracking them. It'll give you some motivation to find a better idea," she said and her voice held a tone of finality to it. As in, she wasn't going to argue any more. "Try not to attract too much attention to what we're up to while you're gone."

"But Raaaaaanka!" Ichiro whined. "Larva's cousin has a strange obsession for him, and his friend is worse. I think he has some kind of man fetish."

Ranka tried hard to hold back the smile that was pulling at the corners of her lips. "But you've never met them in person, Ichiro. They might not be as bad as you think they are. Maybe you'll even like them." Ichiro's eyes widened in horror. "I'm joking, Ichiro. If all goes well, you might not even have to approach them. All you'll have to do is see if Larva is with them. Then work from there."

"You're not funny, Ranka," Ichiro sobbed.

She clapped her hands sharply. "Go away, Ichiro. You have work to do and I have to prepare for Miyu and Yui's resurrection.

Ichiro shuttered. "Fine. I'll do it for Miyu and Yui." And he turned his back and was gone in a flash.

(-)

Sersee lay back on the mountain of purple, velvet pillows that adorned the head of her bed. Her bed was in the shape of a circle, large and spacious enough for two . . .

The sheer, light purple curtains that hung from a circular rail attached to the ceiling were pulled to encompass the circumference of the bed. She had drawn them not for privacy purposes but because they added a certain feeling to her bedroom when they were closed. She gently sipped from a flute glass a reddish-violet wine that was bitter but sweet enough to keep her from puckering her lips.

In all respect, she should have chosen a sweeter wine, one that would have reflect her present mood. She sighed lightly and her breath fogged the glass. She was tremendously happy; exceedingly so. It must have been the first time in over half a century, yes that seemed about right. What would make her even happier would be to return to her fortress in Europe. Not that she was worried the Westerners would notice that she had left . . .

She was a Western Shinma by blood but an outcast by nature. Sealed away in a fortress on the western-most edge of Europe, she had broken the barriers with the powerful sorcery that was, by blood, her natural born power. No parent or teacher was involved. She had, had no guidance in achieving the control she now had. It was familiar to her blood, a blood that had been pumping through the veins of her family for generations upon generations. When the time was right, her blood would tell her to push herself to the next level, the next breaking point and each time she became stronger and stronger. Now she only resided in the fortress, there was no need to alarm the Westerners with the fact that she was no longer a prisoner. She had no interest in taking revenge against the kin that had imprisoned her. She had more important things to do.

Her blood line had been declining for centuries. A birth of incestuous circumstances to strengthen the blood, she was the only one left. Her grandparents had been cast out into the sea and drowned, her father had been mauled by wolves, her mother burned upside down at the stake, and her brothers and sisters exiled from their birth place, scattered to unknown places around the world to be butchered. Her last surviving relative, a reclusive cousin harboring in Russia, had died by his own hand. Sersee frowned at the memory of her cousin telling her that it was no use fighting, that the world was against them and it was time just to fade away into history.

She sipped the wine to calm the flare of anger that was rising in response to the memory. Her cousin had been wrong and she was about to prove it. She hoped he was watching her right now, she hoped they were all watching her!

She finished off the last droplets of wine and the glass disappeared from her hand. She shivered. The room was suddenly cold. Oh well. She would sleep warmly to night. She snuggled down under the downy, velvet comforter and caressed the face of the sleeping figure next to her.

"My sweet," she whispered to him.

(-)

Lemures sat in a dark room playing chess against himself when Carlua strolled in, apparently, without reason caring a candle stick, the flame of which illuminated her face brightly. She set it down on the table and a few words were exchanged between them. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the flame was out, the chess pieces mysteriously vanished, and Carlua had somehow gotten herself up on the table and way lying on it with her arms propped up on the chessboard staring deeply into Lemures's eyes.

Suddenly, a hall tree fell in the darkness, clattering to the floor, and a hissed string of curses followed. They both looked over seemingly not startled by the unexpected visitor. Ichiro stood frozen against the wall balanced on one leg with arms thrown up into the air. His body was throbbing from having held that position for what seemed like forever. He had tracked them down only to discover that they were staying in a huge castle that they were constructing themselves. To get a better look, he had gone inside but became trapped when Lemures had come in to play chess . . . . over two hours ago.

"Um, er," he stuttered. He was still baffled with how Carlua had managed to get onto the table and _why_ she had decided to throw herself upon it in the first place. "Seems you guys are a little busy. Heh heh. So, I'll, um, I guess I'll be leaving now." And in a flash, he was gone.

"What was that all about?" Carlua commented after a moment of silence hung over them.

Lemures slumped back into his chair, relieved. "Thank god! I thought it was another one of your relatives."

To Be Continued. . . . . .

BlueDragonGirl1: I know I've been saying this in the other updates I've made to my other stories but I'll say it again just in case anybody missed it. This Fall, I'm headed off to college and I've come to notice that many fanfic authors who head off to college kinda don't come back to update their stories. With that said, this summer, I will be updating as much a possible so I can try to get to or get close to the endings of my unfinished fanfics. I will post on my profile what fanfics have been updated and which story I am planning on updating next. Thanks! **R&R!!**

**SIDE NOTE:** The end of the chapter was a parody of a scene from the third volume of the manga, "Déjà vu" (chapter 2: The Phantom Castle). Carlua and Lemures will not be making any other appearances in this fanfiction.


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